The Safe Patient Project is a Consumers Union campaign focused on eliminating medical harm, improving FDA oversight of prescription drugs and promoting disclosure laws that give information to consumers about health care safety and quality.
Patient with MRSA wound following abdominal surgery.
They can spread by touch, electronic thermometers, endoscopes, laboratory coats, soiled gowns, blood, touching, coughing, sneezing, talking, air, water, intravenous fluids, food, rats and flies. It only takes three things for a hospital superbug (strain of bacteria resistant to powerful antibiotics) to infect a patient: the existence of the bacteria in the hospital, a susceptible patient, and a mode of transmission such as a touch by doctors and nurses. Should you be concerned?
Last month major news outlets, medical conferences and Twitter were buzzing about NDM-1, (New Delhi Matallo-beta-lactamase) a newly discovered gene that makes bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics called beta-lactams or carbapenems. The Associated Press reported that, so far, the gene has mostly been found in bacteria that cause gut or urinary infections. The CDC discovered NDM-1 in the U.S. this year, with cases occurring in people from California, Massachusetts and Illinois. But the CDC says the NDM-1 bacteria are rare in the U.S. and have been found mainly in people who obtain medical treatment in India, reported USA Today.
Even scarier are gram-negative superbugs called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), diagnosed mostly in hospital patients and are far more common than bacteria carrying NDM-1, which is actually just one type of CRE. CRE bugs produce an enzyme (called Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenamase, or KPC) that is resistant to carbapenem antibiotics, known as “antibiotics of last resort.” Drug-resistant KPC cases have been reported to the CDC by hospitals in about 35 states and are fatal in 30% to 60% of cases. Gram-negative bacteria can cause severe pneumonia and infections of the urinary tract, bloodstream and other parts of the body. While US health officials don’t know the exact numbers of gram negative infections and related deaths, the CDC estimates that 1.7 million hospital-associated infections, from all types of bacteria combined, cause or contribute to 99,000 deaths each year. That puts hospital-acquired infections in the top-ten category of leading causes of death in the US.
Superbugs like these point to a growing problem of antibiotic resistance in the U.S. which is further complicated by the lack of available treatments for patients who’ve been infected. The real alarm is that hospitals have known about other deadly superbugs for years, and they’re still not doing enough to protect patients from serious harm.
Overall, hospitals have been dragging their feet when it comes to protecting patients from deadly superbugs, and these bugs are getting smarter and more deadly. Hospitals still haven’t managed to control the spread of superbugs lurking in their buildings such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), the single most common source of hospital infections harming about 94,360 people yearly and 18,650 of them dying; and C.diff (clostridium difficile) which is responsible for between 165 and 438 patients dying every day according to one study. With slim to limited treatment options, the focus should be on preventing and eliminating hospital infections. As experts have known for decades, consistent hand hygiene by healthcare professionals is the first line of defense. Yet clinicians do it only 30% of the time, says Peter Pronovost, PhD, MD. Another problem in healthcare delivery is improper antibiotic use and repeated use, which creates more opportunity for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to grow.
According to Brandi Limbago at CDC: “The challenge now is motivating the healthcare community to take action, including using antibiotics wisely, following transmission prevention guidelines, and implementing overall infection prevention recommendations.” When information about where these superbugs are creeping up and how frequent they are is made public, hospitals are more likely to step up their infection control efforts.
Now, the public is being made aware of hospital superbugs through news stories, or worse, they or their loved ones are getting infected. Information guides about protecting yourself from infections is made available through resources like Consumer Reports’ hospital survival guide. But we need hospitals to think about the countless patients being harmed and those of us who simply expect better protection from hospitals.
Antibiotic resistance is not a new problem but it’s a growing one that needs to be addressed quickly. At this point, the superbugs are moving faster than our health care system’s ability to tackle the problem, putting patients at risk.
Thank you for bringing attention to the different bacteria associated with hospital acquired infections, the increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the number of lives lost or affected by hospital acquired infections. The hospital industry has never been “motivated” to take action; all change will have to come from the public. It is time for the public to stand up and tell the hospital industry, “Enough! We are not going to take it anymore.”
I have been shouting this news since the death of my Mother, Ruth Burns, LPN. She died of Acinetobacter infection acquired from an out patient surgery in Columbus, OH in 2007. She was gram negative and died in 17 days. View my story with Katie Couric and the CBS Evening news.
Education, prevention and new medications are key.
Legislation to change how and where the infections are reported will be the consumers best information. You can make a difference. View your state’s action plan.
Already the ICU patients are virtually all on contact isolation. MRSA is a constant companion. I had not heard of the Super Bug but will now keep my eyes open. The infection control MD’s will be questioned ASAP.
In Aug. 08 I had a hip replacement.Got infected.Had I&D surgery on Sept 17,then hardware removed.Hip redone in Jan 09. Infection in Mar.09.Now implant recalled.All that came from hospital.Need to clean instruments more carefully!
My father received a knee replacement and it was infected. They removed the device but, of course could not get rid of the “bug”. He had already had a kidney replacement and this was the last straw for his systems. They finally shut down and we lost a brilliant, funny, kind father, grandfather, and great-grandfather at 80 years of age. In a family where people typically live a healthy life into their mid-nineties we lost about fifteen years with him.
My cousin died last fall in an Austin, Texas hospital from a hospital-acquired infection.
Two years ago a friend died in a Paris, Texas hospital from an
infection acquired during a hospital stay for cosmetic surgery.
In the summer of 2010, a friend acquired MRSA during hospitalization for complications of lymphoma in San Antonio, Texas. Our family will be super-vigilant during hospital stays.
I lost my son Brad to MRSA in 2002. He was 28. I see things have not improved much in hospitals. When insurance companies refuse to pay the bill for these infections, the hospitals will be motivated to clean up their act. Until then, they will continue to do nothing to prevent infections.
Last night, in PCU, the nurse asked if I could stay all night because my mom was pulling out her NG tube, and foley cath. If I couldn’t stay they were going to restrain her. I packed up a few things and trapsed back to the hospital. Let me digress, when I had first arrived, my mom was lying in the bed with the NG tube in her hand, confused. I reported it to a nurse. It was shift change time, so of course it took awhile. This is when the nurse came in, and asked if I could stay. I did not mention to them that I also am a nurse. When I came back to stay the night, the nurse (we will call Raymond), started preparing the NG tube. He walked to the DIRTY “community” sink, filled it with water, and proceeded to put the tip of the NG tube in the “dirty” water. He was just trying to make tube more plyable, but come on – nosocomial, look out. I called him on the infection control, stating that I had just used sink, and although none of the nurses had washed their hands, between patients, the sink was for use by roommate and my mom’s nurse, and visitors. The nurse then did offer to get a clean tube, but stated that he would not soften it. Basically, because he was mad at me, he was making my mom suffer. He then proceeded to tell me to leave the room, he had promised an aid (I beleive, from what I could hear, that she wanted to help insert the tube, and being that my mom was confused, they figured they could do it). I did leave, because I didn’t want my mom to sense my doubts in her care. She has enough problems without not trusting her healthcare providers. Evidently at this point, the tube was clogged up. He did not irrigate it. It was not doing the job. Finally, after repeatedly using the call bell, getting no answer, and then asking the charge nurse, for an order for more pain medication, or anti-anxiety or anti-agitation medication, she came in room. She searched until she found the problem. The foley, evidently had blood around it, it hadn’t drained nearly enough of this concentrated dark urine, so she flushed it. She then flushed the NG tube, and found that it was not working properly, there was a “clog”. She freed it, and the flow of “stomach” contents was restored. The nurse we will call Raymond, said that he called 5 doctors to try to get an order for Ativan, and finally got one from her GI MD, after a song and dance about calling him so late.
I had requested relief for her back at shift change, about 7:30 pm, it was now well past midnight. During this time she was literally, trying to crawl out of her skin. This is not her normal LOC, or behaviour. I was apalled at the lack of handwashing, and the total disregaurd of infection control techniques, by “Raymond” and the other staff that assisted throughout the night. Finally, about 1:00 am, she received her Ativan (IV), which after about 1/2 hour she started to calm down, finally falling asleep. I didn’t document the exact times, but the patients are suffering, needlessly. I wouldn’t be suprised if she doesn’t end up with a bladder infection, (the charge nurse deflated balloon, and pulled out partially and reinserted catheter with regular gloves, and area not cleaned prior. At time she thought possibly distention was due to bladder, so I guess time was of the essence (after 3 miserable hours of pain and anxiety). These patients are helpless, some cannot speak for themselves, some don’t have family members that can see what is happening to them. Where are our safe-guards against neglect, safety issues, and infection control. Note: My stepmom died of a C-diff infection, and gangrene of the bowel 3 days later, in the hospital. JCAHO did cite the hospital for deficiencies from my allegations, that they investigated.
Things have not changed much in 25 years. my husband and I were with my son night and day when he was hospitalized in ’89-’90 9 times for unbelievable complications from a ruptured appendix. He has no speech and has autism and would have died several times without our constant vigilance. He did have a devoted surgeon but some of the nursing staff and other doctors, to put it at its most diplomatic, should have chosen a different profession. His surgeon believed in his indomitable spirit, and our love and he was right.